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Edit 4/23/09: ForteXorcist cast bar takes all pushback into account (currently, this is the only mod that shows both pushback and tick marks at the same time).

I have seen a lot of heartburn regarding Drain Soul and how to properly execute the spell in a boss encounter. Because of this, I would like to show you exactly how to setup two mods which will help improve your, Affliction Warlock, DPS dramatically.

First and foremost, download and install the two mods (Drain Soul Warning and ForteXorcist) found here:

Then, click on the "Spell Timer" button on the bottom of the ForteXorcist Options panel.

Then, make sure that the "Enable" and "Show Ticks" boxes are checked. Finally, scroll down a bit in the ForteXorcist Options panel and ensure that the "Drain" button is checked.

Now, I arrange these two mods right underneath my Quartz mod so they are clearly visible throughout a Boss Fight. As soon as the Drain Soul Warning turns Red and says "Drain Soul!" I immediately switch from using Shadow Bolt as my main filler to Drain Soul to the end of a boss encounter. And, with ForteXorcist setup exactly how I laid out step-by-step above, you will only see the ForteXorcist mod when you begin to cast Drain Soul. You will also now see each Tick Mark of Drain Soul so you will never clip a tick when you need to reapply your falling off DoTs. This setup will ensure that you maximize all your Drain Soul Ticks in a boss fight.

In combat, final product:

One last point to remember, treat each Drain Soul Tick as a separate cast. That should help you visualize and prioritize your spell casting during the last 25% of a boss fight.

Great guide! Drain Soul is a huge contributer to DPS these days, and using it is important.

I won't go into a ton of detail, but I have a more lightweight approach based on how I play during that last 25%. What I did was install MSBT and set a couple custom warnings. First, I have my drain soul warning that goes off at 25%. This is easily setup by modifying the default warrior execute warning under triggers. I added a sound to this, and I also have the boss HP percentage displayed on my target frame.

The next thing I did was add a Drain Soul Hit event to MSBT. This has a sound and a bold pop-up whenever my drain soul ticks. Yes, this is mildly annoying when not in a bossfight, but it gets the job done.

My theory behind this setup is that below 25%, my eyes aren't on my cast bar, but on my timers. I need to know at what point to drop my channel and start casting DoTs again. I found the pop-up warning and noise to work better than a cast bar, so that I can focus my eyes on just timers and count on my ears to queue drain soul. I find that it's more important to know that after your next tick you need to cast dots, as opposed to knowing when exactly that next tick is coming.

that gives you a visual indication ("!Drain Soul!") every time DS ticks and gives you an audio warning at 25% of the mob's health.

Yes, there are multiple ways you can use Drain Soul.

The problem with DrainSoulTimer, in my eyes, is this:

You only see Drain Soul ticks *after* they happen and, therefore, there is no way to anticipate when these ticks will occur in the future.

The beauty of using ForteXorcist instead of a scrolling combat text type notification is that you will have the ability to anticipate future Drain Soul ticks and can more effficiently plan when you will stop channeling Drain Soul to recast your other spells.

So along these same lines one of my favorite add-ons for afflication is PolMonitor. In combination with your favorite DoT Timer this will monitor the debuffs on a target and light up an icon of the spell that isn't on the target. So when things get hectic in a fight and you might "lose" track of your rotation and the DoTs may have fallen off the timer area, this gives you a quick snapshot of what debuffs you need on the target. Once you cast the spell the icon fades into black until it falls off again. You can also use this interface to click on the icon and it will cast the spell for you. I don't use the click so much since I keybind but might be helpful to folks.

I organized my debuff monitors in priority of spell importance so anything I see "light up" from left to right gets addressed. This in combination with a good DoT timer should help you keep good uptimes.